Minful While Working Pooped Me Out

comicallyinsane

I was putting up drywall yesterday and I decided to be very mindful of my work. It was ahrd with my daughter asking me questions every five seconds. I got a good amount of work done but at the end of the day I was really tired. More tired than usual.

Simonthepilgrim

The practice of mindfulness can, I have found, require concentrated effort. Little by little, it becomes the default position of our mind. I think of it as equivalent to all other learning experiences:

* we start from unconscious ignorance where it didn't even occur to us that we were not mindful;

* becoming aware of our ignorance, we move into conscious ignorance where we learn the basics and begin to acquire a little ease in practice. It is during this time that discouragement arises. This is the "learning curve" which is so rarely curved but more like a potholed mountain track!

* Fortunately, after practice (as in a foreign language, say), we acquire some degree of competence, whilst still requiring conscious attention to the skill. This is conscious competence and is also subject to discouragements. These often arise from our vanity and self-deception at being 'good' at something but not perfect.

* Finally, in a switch that goes unnoticed, we no longer need to think about the mechanics of the skill: we apply it automatically. This is unconscious competence. Although it is a state much to be desired in some cases, it is also where our bad habits reside!

ajani_mgo

This sounds alot of work to me... Are there any ways said by the Buddha to train mindfulness~ I will need it to overcome many obstacles in my future life I think...

Jason

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/majjhima/mn118.html Majjhima Nikaya 118 Anapanasati Sutta (Mindfulness of breathing)

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/majjhima/mn119.html Majjhima Nikaya 119 Kayagata-sati Sutta (Mindfulness of body)

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/anguttara/an06-019.html Anguttara Nikaya VI.19 Maranassati Sutta (Mindfulness of death)

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/thanissaro/concmind.html The Path of
Concentration & Mindfulness by Thanissaro Bhikkhu (Good book)

Simonthepilgrim

Ajani,

When we deconstruct any action, however simple, it appears complicated. Imagine trying to describe all the actions involved in making a cup of tea! And, once we understand the fact of complexity, the Cha-no-yu (the 'Tea Ceremony') comes into its own.

I am reminde of a story told to me by one who had been with HHDL in California. At the end of the teaching, a young man asked His Holiness, "What is the quickest and easiest way to Enlightenment?" According to my friend, His Holiness replied, wityh tears running down his cheeks, that the West has to learn that speed is not what it is all about.

ajani_mgo

OK I see... But will it make work more efficient really?

comicallyinsane

Being mindful makes all my work more eficient. I tend to get more done which makes me more tired. Being mindfull while working rocks!!!!!!!!!

ajani_mgo

Oh, you mean that it can't increase your present limit of Power (in the physics term), but it can increase your endurance and let you work longer... I see... It will be useful for me... Especially when passing my fitness tests... I suck at fitness.